Five things you might have missed last week

1. Narrow escape

An Australian prisoner escaped a maximum-security prison in Sydney after losing enough weight from fasting and laxatives to slip through a gap he had chiselled with a butter knife. Robert Cole, 37, was recaptured three days later.

2. Short circuit

One hundred and fifty homes in Middlestone Moor, Durham, were left without electricity when a dog cocked its leg on a faulty power cable. "There was an almighty explosion and the whole street lit up," says the owner, Gary Davies.

3. Clear and present danger

Secret service agents dragged a 14-year-old girl from her classroom in California for posting the words "Kill Bush" on her MySpace page.

4. Help, I need somebody

A 105-year-old Chinese man has advertised for a wife. Gong Duruo, a doctor from Hebei Province, wants a woman half his age who "had better have a history in medical practice or literature, as I need assistance writing a book on health."

5. Scaredy cats

Animal rights activists in Switzerland who broke into a circus intending to liberate a rare white tiger quickly changed their minds when they saw the animal up close. After a hurried rethink, they opted for a pet rabbit belonging to the clown's six-year-old daughter.

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